Oral

The Y Chromosome kills more men than all the world wars, murder, accidents and disease put together: True or False? Much research into health inequalities focuses on ethnicity, low income, age and isolation but often ignores what one UK public health minister, Yvette Cooper described as the ‘greatest inequality when it comes to health’. Gender. In only two countries will double X owners die sooner. It is easy to fall into the ‘a man has to do what a man has to do’ fatalism which pervades not least the medical profession. Misogyny also raises its ugly head despite married men living longer than single men but the reverse for women. Even the most superficial look at life expectancy shows that women do live longer than men and this can be a generation worth of lost life as in Brazil or Russia. However, the very fact that these ratios change from Sweden (where there is little difference in gender life expectancy) to the massive inequalities seen in Latvia, forces us to examine the ‘genetic determinants’ of health when it comes to survival. This presentation looks at worldwide life expectancy based on gender. It refuses to set woman against man, but rather shows how by working together the two sexes can improve not only both life expectancies but also that of our children. Leave your DNA at the door, we are in this together.

Session Objectives: Explain why there is such a difference in life expectancy between the sexes. Identify how life expectancy between sexes can be addressed.

CE Credits: Medical (CME), Health Education (CHES), Nursing (CNE), Public Health (CPH)